“I ran to the front of my house and I saw a man lying on the ground. I heard screaming, terrible screaming.

"It was Dolores McGuigan. The man was lying on the ground face down, perfectly still and I realised then it was Kevin, my friend, my neighbour.

“I ran to him and people tried to stop me but I knew I had to help him. Another neighbour pushed her way through as Dolores was helped to a neighbour’s house. She was in a state of collapse.

“I knelt down and pulled off my cardigan. I could feel shell casings under my knees, they were jagging into me and there were loads of them.

“I started to pray for Kevin and told him over and over again that he’d be alright.

“I told him to breathe, I kept telling him take a breath. There was blood gushing from the back of his head and neck but he didn’t seem to have any other injuries on his back. I gently rubbed his back and kept talking to him.

“I got my friend to run to get her holy water and rosary beads. I never left him. We turned him over and he was still conscious and I felt for a pulse and he was still alive. It was faint but it was there.

“I thought there was hope but I could see the blood and I’d seen the injury and I knew it would be a miracle if he survived.

“I said the Act of Contrition, Hail Mary and the Our Father over and over again and I told him to breathe, and he did.

"He took three shallow breaths and then the ambulance arrived and they stepped in. Those were some of his last breaths.

“My friend blessed him with holy water and I put the rosary beads in his hand. He was safe then.

“The paramedics put an oxygen mask on Kevin’s face and got him into the ambulance very fast. They left with the blue lights flashing and I thought again there was some hope because they moved so fast. It made me think that he might make it.

“But the friend who went with him in the ambulance called me a short time later and said he was gone.

“I’ll never get over this. How will this community every get over this?

“Kevin was a gentleman and a friend to everyone in this close, he helped everyone, he did DIY and garden work for me. He looked after his nine children and his six grandchildren. He cared for his little grandson who is a sickly child.

“We’re just working people trying to get on with our lives, look after our children and get them a good life and a good education.

“The youngest of Kevin’s children is only about 12. How do they ever recover? This is their summer, this is their life now forever. They are the children of a man murdered in cold blood as he made his way home to them.

“The people that did this are evil, destroying bastards and I hope they rot in hell. Someone somewhere knows who they are and where they went.

“I hope they get what they deserve. They have broken the peace of our homes, they have shattered a community and devastated a family.

“I feel like we’ve all lost a father tonight. And while I know I’ll never get over seeing that poor man lying there in the street, I am glad I was there, I’m glad I was able to pray over him, and put the rosary beads in his hand, and bless him with holy water. That was my job tonight as a human being and I’m glad to have been there for him.”

Mr McGuigan had returned from a GAA match with his wife Dolores when the killers struck.

Moments later he had dropped two of his six grandchildren and his youngest grandchild, who suffers with ill health ran out of the family home at Comber Court to his dying grandad.

The murder was carried out just three months after the execution of senior republican Jock Davison.

The 47-year-old was shot dead metres from his home in the Markets area of South Belfast as he walked to work last May.

It is believed a lone gunman emerged from an alleyway and shot the former IRA leader several times in the head and chest before making off on foot.

There were threats in the wake of the murder to “execute” the people who killed Gerard ‘Jock’ Davison.

Davison and Mr McGuigan are believed to have been the founding members of the Provisional IRA front gang known as Direct Action Against Drugs.

Mr McGuigan handed himself in to police after rumours spread that he may have been involved.

He was questioned and no action was taken after he denied any involvement with Davison’s death.

Jock Davison was believed to have been present in Magennis’ Bar in 2005 during the high-profile killing of 33-year-old Robert McCartney.

Davidson and two other IRA mmembers were expelled. He was later questioned by police but released without charge.

A police spokesman said: “Police can confirm a man has died after a shooting in Comber Court in Short Strand.

“A murder investigation has been launched and witnesses asked to call 101.”

First Minister Peter Robinson condemned the murder and said: "This was a brutal murder carried out in a residential area. Whatever the circumstances there can be no justification for such actions.

"Terrorism was always wrong and must be condemned. I know that the vast majority of people in Northern Ireland do not want to see this kind of activity back on our streets. I would hope that those responsible can be quickly identified and brought to justice."

Sinn Féin councillor Niall Ó Donnghaile also condemned the shooting saying there was “no place for actions like this in our society".

Mr Ó Donnghaile said: “I unreservedly condemn the shooting of a local man near his home in the Short Strand tonight.

“This action has shocked the local community and my thoughts are with the family of the victim.

“There can be no place for actions like this in our society.

“The community here rejects any attempt by any armed group to turn the clock back to the past.”

SDLP leader Dr Alasdair McDonnell described the shooting as a “brutal and terrible crime”.

Mr McDonnell said:“The perpetrator must be held to account for bringing this level of inhumanity and savagery back to our streets.

“In just two days a bomb has exploded near a children’s playing field in Derry and a man has been murdered in East Belfast.

“We must stand against those who would seek to drag us all back to the ways of the past.I urge anyone with information about either of these actions to go to the police.”

Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness tweeted: “My thoughts are with the family of the man shot dead in the Short Strand area of Belfast tonight.

"I unreservedly condemn this appalling deed.”

East Belfast MP Gavin Robinson said the murder was "a shocking reminder of scenes no one wants to see on our streets again".

He added: "There can never be any justification for such actions and it is vital the community stands against those who would attempt to drag us back.

"No one has the right to take the law into their own hands and those responsible for this murder must be brought to justice. I would encourage anyone who was in the area or who might have any information to assist the police with their inquiries."